Coinbase Hits $100 Billion Valuation In Nasdaq Debut

Coinbase, the United State’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, hit a valuation of over $100 billion on its first day of public trading on Wednesday.

The company’s value was put at $99.6 billion when trading opened, with stocks priced at $381 apiece. This price later fell to $328.28, but that was after it reached the $100 billion milestone.

The cryptocurrency platform’s initial valuation put it above BP and other giants before falling back by trading’s end.

Coinbase’s stock market debut, is not just a major move for the firm but also for cryptocurrencies at large, with far-reaching implications. The enthusiasm which becoming part of mainstream finance spurred among crypto investors became visible in the days leading up to the listing of Coinbase, as Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $63,000 on Tuesday.

Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted this on Wednesday: “today is a big moment for @coinbase as we become a public company. But it’s also a big one for crypto.”

The decision by Tesla, PayPal and Mastercard to incorporate digital tokens into their business models positively affected the value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies over the past year. Bitcoin itself increased by 300% last year and has continued to rise since January.

Founded in 2012, Coinbase was had more than 56 million users as at the end of March 2021 and also holds about $223 billion in users’ assets.

Numbers show that the past few years have been favorable to the firm, as their market cap increased more than tenfold since 2018, when investors in a private funding round valued it at $8 billion.